1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a receiving frame interfaced with a host computer to removably receive a computer drive carrier in which a computer drive is transported and to a locking system to prevent a removal of the carrier from its receiving frame. A microcontroller is located on the receiving frame to be interfaced with the locking system to prevent a manual shutdown of the drive when the drive carrier is locked within its receiving frame and to generate a visual warning signal in the event that a SAS drive has been inserted into a SATA receiving frame.
2. Background Art
With the advent of personal computers and workstations, it is often necessary to remove the medium on which computer data is stored. For example, it may be desirable to remove a storage medium so as to be carried to a different location and/or to a different computer system. It may also be desirable to remove the storage medium to a secure location when the computer data that is stored therein is particularly sensitive or secret. To accomplish the foregoing, computer storage media (e.g., disc drives) are transported by portable carriers that are removably received within a storage enclosure or chassis that is interconnected with a host computer. The removable disc drive carrier is simply pulled out of its chassis on an as-needed basis. Either the original disc drive carrier or a different carrier can be returned to the chassis. This insertion/removal cycle of the carrier usually occurs several times throughout the workday. By way of example only, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,022 issued Aug. 27, 2002 for one example of a removable disc drive carrier. Reference may also be made to our earlier filed co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/229,174 for an example of a locking system that is associated with a removable disc drive carrier and receiving frame.
Because of its removable nature, it is possible for an unauthorized individual to withdraw the computer drive carrier from its receiving frame without being detected. In this case, sensitive computer data could become lost and/or stolen. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a reliable, easy to use locking system by which to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent removal of a computer drive carrier from its receiving frame.
Occasionally, a computer drive carrier will transport a SAS computer drive that is known to be incompatible with a SATA receiving frame. When such a computer drive is located in a SATA receiving frame, an overheating condition may result. In the event the overheating condition is not corrected early, some or all of the system could be exposed to a thermally induced failure. Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide means at the receiving frame by which to detect a potential drive/receiving frame mismatch and to provide a warning signal in the event such a mismatch is detected. In this same regard, and to prevent possible damage to the computer drive being transported by the computer drive carrier, it is still further desirable to be able to monitor the status of the computer drive and to provide drive status signals to users to indicate when the drive is fully spun up and ready to be accessed by its host, when the drive is fully spun down and safe to be removed with its carrier from the receiving frame, or when the drive is not receiving power.